


A cruel, fucked up, funny mistress

by Soulbarebones



Series: Rock the Cradle: A jazminealthia/sksdwrld collaboration [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Divorce, F/M, Infidelity, Irony, Lawyers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 09:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11227770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soulbarebones/pseuds/Soulbarebones
Summary: An AU in which Matt and Eddie are not the item everyone thought they were.





	A cruel, fucked up, funny mistress

Eddie left the lawyer’s office, softly closing the door behind her. Her family was there, in the waiting room: Marshall playing quietly on the floor with a handful of action figures he’d managed to cram into his pockets on the way out the door, Emma listening with rapt attention to the cadence of Elliot’s voice, almost too quiet to hear as he turned the pages in her favorite picture book, probably for the 80th time since she’d gone in.

Elliot looked up and smiled hesitantly. “What did he say?” he asked, continuing with the next page’s rhetoric without looking at it. “Never make a raven mad, his temper is extremely bad. He also can, and this is worse, zap you with a nasty curse. Perhaps you think this isn’t so? Just ask the guy who called him ‘crow’...”

“He turned him straw, flew off crocking nevah-moh!” Emma squealed and dissolved into giggles and slid off onto the floor. “Nevermore! Nevermore!”

“Nevermore!” Marshall squawked at her, joining in the fun.

Eddie smiled then sighed as she came closer. Elliot was already shoving the book, snacks, and sippy cups into the diaper bag. “He said I’m a shitty person.”

Elliot looked up in alarm, opening one arm to receive her into an embrace. “Because of me?”

She snorted. “Because I went to him knowing he was Matt’s lawyer first. To pit him against Matt.”

Elliot’s lips thinned into a line. “He could have refused. That’s his right.”

“I told him I knew he’d do right by us. That I didn’t want to screw Matt, that I just wanted what was fair. That I was afraid that another laywer would take advantage of my mental state to drag things out just for the commission. And anyway, Elliot...Kids...kids...” Eddie kissed him on the mouth before pulling away. She crouched down next to Emma and Marshall, now wrestling playfully on the floor. “Come on, we can’t do that here. We gotta go. Come on. Mama needs a cigarette, let’s go to the park.”

‘Park’ really was the operative word here and as soon as the word left her lips, the kids sprang apart, cheering and running toward the door. “Hey!” she barked, causing both kids to abruptly pull back. “Are you nuts? Get back here and hold our hands before you get run over, or worse...” (She’d had to stop saying, “You want to get stolen?” because Elliot got that triggered, flinchy look on his face every time and then was useless helping her with the kids for the rest of the day).

Emma ran back, seizing Elliot’s hand with hers and beaming up at him. He smiled at her, then at Eddie, who was taking Marshall’s hand. Marshall...Marshall was never going to forgive her for this. He liked Elliot but adored Matt with his entire being...

As a unit, they went out into the bright L.A. sun, corralling the kids onto the sidewalk and trying not to form a wall of destruction while walking close enough to continue their conversation. “And anyway, Elliot. What did he think was going to happen? He’s the one who wanted you here. He’s the one accusing me of still being in love with you...”

“Well,” Elliot looked back over his shoulder at her for a moment. “Was he wrong?”

“Nope. But I don’t think he was really counting on you to sort out your meds and get your head out of your ass, either.”

“In fairness, I think we were all surprised. L.A. has better therapists than Massachusetts...who knew?”

“I had faith in you, baby...” Eddie reached out and rubbed the space between his shoulderblades and she felt him press back into the touch briefly. They were still trying to keep things on the DL, but the next season of Rock The Cradle had more than enough windows to fuel the drama that would pay their bills for quite some time. It had been a surprise when Elliot agreed to sign on, but he was tired of busting his ass for shit pay. It had really taken minimal cajoling from Eddie, who promised him that they could do everything they ever wanted to with the paychecks that came in. Buy a little house of their own and bank as much as they could, then live off the interest. It was possible. They didn’t need glory and opulence.

“How much faith do you have that he’s not going to kill me?”

“Who’s gonna kill you?” Marshall piped in.

“No one baby,” Eddie promised.

“Your father,” Elliot said at the same time.

“For fuck’s sake, Elliot. This is so ridiculous. You are his goddamn father.”

“Daddy-Elly, uppy?”

“Yeah. Ironic, isn’t it?” Elliot bent down to pick up Emma who was tugging at his hand and held her to his chest, then kissed her cheek.

Eddie couldn’t help the smile that played on her lips. Life was cruel and fucked up and funny all at the same time. But seeing Elliot with Emma like that cemented one thing: “On second thought, he’s gonna kill you...”


End file.
